Observation / Reflection #4:Be Quiet! I'm Trying To Talk!
In this observation, pay attention to how your teacher manages his or her classroom. What types of disruptions, if any, occur while you're visiting? How do they set the class in motion? How do they deal with interruptions (from the outside) and disruptions (from their students)? Determine whether there are students in the classes that you will teach that are especially troublesome. Ask your CT how he or she addresses these students' needs. Reflect on your "vision" of an ideal science classroom. What classroom policies will you try to implement in YOUR classroom? How does your vision align with your teaching philosophy?
North Smith Field Middle School Mrs. Lynn Hannah
Observation:
Through my observations of Mrs. Hannah's 8th grade science class, I have noticed something about her classroom management, she is great at it! Mrs. Hannah is in control of class at all times, even when they are joking around and laughter fills the room, she never lets it span out of control. When the students are between classes, not only Mrs. Hannah, but the whole team is at their classroom door visualizing the hallway activity and still inside the classroom at the same time. Mrs. Hannah sets her class in motion by welcoming the students at the door, mostly by name unless a group of them come in all at once, and then having them immediately sit in their seats. Before the bell even rings to begin class Mrs. Hannah makes sure the students who have already entered are taking out their notebooks and copying down the daily objectives on the front board. This is great because it gets the students settled and focused on today's lesson. As soon as the bell rings, Mrs. Hannah closes the door and goes to the front of the room where the power point is already set up and ready to go. She gives the students who entered last a few more minutes to finish up copying the objectives down and then wastes no time to begin her lesson.
For the most part, there are usually no outside distractions at all. The main office refrains from making speaker announcements during class time. In the morning before the advisory period is when the office makes loud speaker announcements and if absolutely necessary, during class changes. However, today, for the first time in all my observations, there was an outside distraction. The phone rang at about twenty minutes into the period. Mrs. Hannah had forgotten to send down a student that was being dismissed early, so the office had to call up. As soon as the phone rang, I noticed the changed in the classroom behavior, as well as Mrs. Hannah. The students immediately began to make comments:
"Mrs. Hannah the phone!" "Mrs. Hannah can I get it!" "Maybe it's the police!"
Before Mrs. Hannah even answered the phone, she attended to the classroom behavior. She quieted them down and told them to remain quiet in their seats while she was on the phone. The students did as they were told, but of course as soon Mrs. Hannah answered the call the students took full advantage of it and began chatting with their neighbors. Mrs. Hannah was very quick on the phone wasting as little class time as she could. As soon as she was off, she excused the student and immediately returned to her lesson. She did not stand for any misbehavior and returned to the task at hand. Of course Mrs. Hannah did the best she could to continue with her teaching, but with that minor interruption, the students are now unfocused and slightly more difficult for Mrs. Hannah to teach. With the outside interruption, comes all of the inside interruptions. It was very clear that the class was much harder to manage after the phone call. The students were very chatty and energetic, constantly delaying the power point notes Mrs. Hannah was trying to give. She did her best calm the students and keep them focused, but with all the 5 second stops to say, "Michael, pay attention" and "Crystal please stop talking", before you know it ten minutes of the classroom period is wasted on classroom behavior.
Relfection:
My ideal science classroom resembles Mrs. Hannah's greatly. She incorporates all different learning styles in her teaching and implements fun and exciting hands on activities. Her mini experiments that she performed for the students during last weeks "physical and chemical changes" lesson was amazing! The students were so enticed with what she was doing and could not get enough. Her students seem to truly enjoy coming to her class everyday, which is exactly how I want my students to feel. I want to create the warm, welcoming feeling that Mrs. Hannah creates everyday in her room by standing at the door and greeting the students by name. I want my students to feel comfortable in my room, wanting to participate and ask questions. I will make sure that everyone student has a fair shot to succeed in my class. My main goal is to have my students find an appreciation for science. I understand that not everyone loves science, especially since it can be a very difficult subject at times. But I at least want my students to enjoy my class and want to be there.
I want my classroom policies to be stated positively. For instance, instead of "Do not be late", it will say, "Be on time". I do not want any negative thoughts, rules, behaviors, attitudes, etc. in my classroom. I believe that the more positivity I include in my classroom, I can create a safer and more welcoming classroom environment for my students. I want to enforce a strong belief on "effort" as well. I want my students to try at everything they do. After many years of studying Science, I can attest to the fact that science sometimes can be very difficult to understand, especially when you are first starting out. Therefore, I want my students to put an effort into everything they do, even if in the end they come a bit short from the truth or correct answer. I as the educator and their teacher, will help them get there. All I ask is that along the way they do the best they can do. My vision goes right along with my teaching philosophy. I want my students hands on learning and most importantly learning for themselves. I do not want to spit out information and definitions at them and tell them to memorize them and there will be a test next week. I want my students to try, fail, and try again. One of the best ways to learn is through making mistakes. I will never penalize a student for trying the best he/she could and failing. Science is about experimentation and learning through discovery. I can not wait to have my own classroom one day so I can show students how exciting science truly is. But for now, I will start with Mrs. Hannah's class next semester!
Observation / Reflection #4:Be Quiet! I'm Trying To Talk!
In this observation, pay attention to how your teacher manages his or her classroom. What types of disruptions, if any, occur while you're visiting? How do they set the class in motion? How do they deal with interruptions (from the outside) and disruptions (from their students)? Determine whether there are students in the classes that you will teach that are especially troublesome. Ask your CT how he or she addresses these students' needs. Reflect on your "vision" of an ideal science classroom. What classroom policies will you try to implement in YOUR classroom? How does your vision align with your teaching philosophy?North Smith Field Middle School
Mrs. Lynn Hannah
Observation:
Through my observations of Mrs. Hannah's 8th grade science class, I have noticed something about her classroom management, she is great at it! Mrs. Hannah is in control of class at all times, even when they are joking around and laughter fills the room, she never lets it span out of control. When the students are between classes, not only Mrs. Hannah, but the whole team is at their classroom door visualizing the hallway activity and still inside the classroom at the same time. Mrs. Hannah sets her class in motion by welcoming the students at the door, mostly by name unless a group of them come in all at once, and then having them immediately sit in their seats. Before the bell even rings to begin class Mrs. Hannah makes sure the students who have already entered are taking out their notebooks and copying down the daily objectives on the front board. This is great because it gets the students settled and focused on today's lesson. As soon as the bell rings, Mrs. Hannah closes the door and goes to the front of the room where the power point is already set up and ready to go. She gives the students who entered last a few more minutes to finish up copying the objectives down and then wastes no time to begin her lesson.
For the most part, there are usually no outside distractions at all. The main office refrains from making speaker announcements during class time. In the morning before the advisory period is when the office makes loud speaker announcements and if absolutely necessary, during class changes. However, today, for the first time in all my observations, there was an outside distraction. The phone rang at about twenty minutes into the period. Mrs. Hannah had forgotten to send down a student that was being dismissed early, so the office had to call up. As soon as the phone rang, I noticed the changed in the classroom behavior, as well as Mrs. Hannah. The students immediately began to make comments:
"Mrs. Hannah the phone!"
"Mrs. Hannah can I get it!"
"Maybe it's the police!"
Before Mrs. Hannah even answered the phone, she attended to the classroom behavior. She quieted them down and told them to remain quiet in their seats while she was on the phone. The students did as they were told, but of course as soon Mrs. Hannah answered the call the students took full advantage of it and began chatting with their neighbors. Mrs. Hannah was very quick on the phone wasting as little class time as she could. As soon as she was off, she excused the student and immediately returned to her lesson. She did not stand for any misbehavior and returned to the task at hand. Of course Mrs. Hannah did the best she could to continue with her teaching, but with that minor interruption, the students are now unfocused and slightly more difficult for Mrs. Hannah to teach. With the outside interruption, comes all of the inside interruptions. It was very clear that the class was much harder to manage after the phone call. The students were very chatty and energetic, constantly delaying the power point notes Mrs. Hannah was trying to give. She did her best calm the students and keep them focused, but with all the 5 second stops to say, "Michael, pay attention" and "Crystal please stop talking", before you know it ten minutes of the classroom period is wasted on classroom behavior.
Relfection:
My ideal science classroom resembles Mrs. Hannah's greatly. She incorporates all different learning styles in her teaching and implements fun and exciting hands on activities. Her mini experiments that she performed for the students during last weeks "physical and chemical changes" lesson was amazing! The students were so enticed with what she was doing and could not get enough. Her students seem to truly enjoy coming to her class everyday, which is exactly how I want my students to feel. I want to create the warm, welcoming feeling that Mrs. Hannah creates everyday in her room by standing at the door and greeting the students by name. I want my students to feel comfortable in my room, wanting to participate and ask questions. I will make sure that everyone student has a fair shot to succeed in my class. My main goal is to have my students find an appreciation for science. I understand that not everyone loves science, especially since it can be a very difficult subject at times. But I at least want my students to enjoy my class and want to be there.
I want my classroom policies to be stated positively. For instance, instead of "Do not be late", it will say, "Be on time". I do not want any negative thoughts, rules, behaviors, attitudes, etc. in my classroom. I believe that the more positivity I include in my classroom, I can create a safer and more welcoming classroom environment for my students. I want to enforce a strong belief on "effort" as well. I want my students to try at everything they do. After many years of studying Science, I can attest to the fact that science sometimes can be very difficult to understand, especially when you are first starting out. Therefore, I want my students to put an effort into everything they do, even if in the end they come a bit short from the truth or correct answer. I as the educator and their teacher, will help them get there. All I ask is that along the way they do the best they can do. My vision goes right along with my teaching philosophy. I want my students hands on learning and most importantly learning for themselves. I do not want to spit out information and definitions at them and tell them to memorize them and there will be a test next week. I want my students to try, fail, and try again. One of the best ways to learn is through making mistakes. I will never penalize a student for trying the best he/she could and failing. Science is about experimentation and learning through discovery. I can not wait to have my own classroom one day so I can show students how exciting science truly is. But for now, I will start with Mrs. Hannah's class next semester!